Could you handicap the top 4 folks in the US Senate dem primary (based on assumptions of who may be in) and the top 4 folks who would be NEXT mayor of Boston (outside of Menino)?

Well, the four who are making noise about running I would put in the following order of likelihood to win the nomination: Setti Warren, Kim Driscoll, Alan Khazei, Bob Massie -- with the caveat that I don't think there's a huge difference in the odds among all four.

I've been on vacation for the past week, but I'm back and ready to offer my two cents on things swirling around the local political scene.

--Charlie Baker's campaign put out an optimistic top-page pollster memo, from a two-week-old poll showing the same thing other polls from that time showed: Deval Patrick ahead by about 7 points, with Tim Cahill's support refusing to die.

Predict the field, and rank from most progressive to most conservative (from your own perspective) for the statewide races for 2010: Attorney General; Treasurer; Auditor

"Anon" asks:

Can you give us a rundown of who you think will be running for the statewide open seats? In particular, I am interested if you think Andrea Cabral will run for AG or whether she will hold out for a different seat.